On 11 September 2018 the debate about the protection and preservation of heritage took place in the House of Representatives. Sandra Beckerman, archaeologist, has given her argument on behalf of her party, the SP, and asked questions to Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Maritime heritage was part of this. Sandra Beckerman has pointed out to the Minister that the problems of unlawful excavation are great and that there are concerns in Germany and England about illegal Dutch dives in war graves. Other topics discussed included the Wall of Mussert and the Bunker of Seyss-Inquart. She also reminded the Minister of an important article from the Malta Convention to which little attention has been paid to date, namely Article 9:
Each Party undertakes:
- to conduct educational actions with a view to rousing and developing an awareness in public opinion of the value of the archaeological heritage for understanding the past and of the threats to this heritage;
- to promote public access to important elements of its archaeological heritage, especially sites, and encourage the display to the public of suitable selections of archaeological objects.